I'm from that area and most of my family still lives in that area. They may act like they want new industry and a few of them may have said as much while you were there, but in reality, they fear change more than anything. In West Virginia, companies have come to the state and offered free and even paid training for out of work coal miners to learn a new trade, and every time it fails miserably because those ignorant hillbillies still hold onto the ridiculous pipe dream that all the mines will magically open back up one day. Anyone who comes in and tries to help is treated like they have the plague and shunned, especially during the Obama years, but even now they reject any attempts of assistance by "outsiders".